Oregon State, Washington State Basketball And More to Join West Coast Conference For Next Two Seasons, Per Report

Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle instructs his players during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Pittsburgh in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Barclay’s center, Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)

750 THE GAME STAFF

According to CBS Sports, beginning next season, Oregon State and Washington State basketball and all sports excluding football and baseball will become members of the West Coast Conference for the next two seasons.

The agreement is expected to be made official by a vote on Thursday. It will leave the option for baseball to also join the WCC.

The Beavs and Cougs previously were awarded control of the Pac-12 Conference last week when a Washington State supreme court decided to lift the stay of a Whitman County court’s ruling in October that ruled in favor of the two remaining schools in the conference. A football schedule partnership with the Mountain West Conference was shortly thereafter released for the 2024 season that included a non-conference Civil War rivalry game with Oregon, scheduled for Sept. 14th in Corvallis and again in 2025 in Eugene.

The West Coast Conference will grow to 11 members in men’s and women’s basketball with the addition of Oregon State and Washington State.

The Beavs and Cougs will compete in the WCC and will join the other member institutions for the right to earn an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament in basketball via the WCC Tournament. OSU and WSU will become de facto members of the conference on July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2026.